Bulandshahr spurious liquor: Death toll rises to six as one more dies; two arrested

The deceased, Bhagwat, was a resident of Jeetgarhi village. He was referred to the Meerut medical college on Friday evening after his condition deteriorated.

“He showed signs of improvement Friday night but started vomiting again since early Saturday morning. He later died. The body has been handed over to a police team from Bulandshahr,” said Akhilesh Mohan, Meerut’s Chief Medical Officer.

The main accused in this case, Kuldeep, was arrested in Delhi on Friday night. “We have arrested 10 people persons, including the three accused in the Jeetgarhi incident. On interrogation, they revealed that 16 sacks full of liquor pouches were brought into the district. We have seized eight of these bags so far and a massive hunt is on to trace the remaining ones,” Sikandrabad Deputy SP Namrita Srivastava told The Sunday Express over the phone.

The Bulandshahr police Saturday announced a reward of Rs 5,000 for information on these bags.

All six deceased persons in the hooch tragedy were daily wage earners, said the police.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has issued directives for action against excise officials and policemen found lax in their duty. He had also asked the senior police officials of the district to book the accused under the National Security Act.

Following the deaths, four UP Excise Department officials, including Joint Excise Commissioner (Meerut Zone) Rajesh Mani Tripathi, were attached to the UP Excise headquarters in Lucknow.